Utah 2005
Pitch 3 Squeeze chimney of Kor IngallsCastleton Tower
When I proposed to Conor that we visit Utah in July, he was skeptical. Surely the heat would be an issue? Maybe we could go somewhere else. Lucky for me, both my parents are Dutch immigrants. This heritage has blessed me with a determination to follow my own will, neatly captured in the saying:
Wooden shoes,
Wooden head,
Wouldn't listen.
Unbeknownst to anyone, even to myself, I set about finding reasons why we should go. I visited Moab weather sites every morning, checking out the temperatures. You can imagine my dizzy excitement when I found that, even in late June, temperatures were averaging around 79 F. It was such good news that it seemed impossible, really. I forwarded this discovery to Conor straight away.
Conor Reynolds on pitch 1 of North Chimney of CastletonTwo weeks later, as we cruised down the highway and descended into the desert basin of Castle Valley, I watched the on-board thermometer creep up to 100 F. As one may suspect, checking the temperature every morning may not have given a most true account of the daily heat. Worse than the heat, though, was my guilt. I had discovered this gaffe ages ago and had said NOTHING.
So there I was, melting in the parking lot of Safeway, Moab, feeling stupid for underestimating the wrath of summer in the desert. We decided right there that dealing with the oppressive heat was a challenge to be met only with pre-dawn starts and noonish finishes.
Started things off by climbing Kor-Ingalls and North Chimney on Castleton. Both routes were fun and went by quickly.
Crux pitch of North ChimneyKor-Ingalls is pretty straight forward, and an excellent first tower route. The start is easy to find and the entire route is well protected with good stations. The crux 5.9 squeeze is more slow and somewehat uncomfortable than it is difficult. It is the only pitch of consequence on the route. Go do it!
North Chimney, for my taste, is a better route than the Kor-Ingalls. The first pitch is a long, solid hand crack with plenty of rests. It's in a steep corner with good exposure behind, so it's not hard to be a hero on this one.
Sadly, I lost my favourite long sleeve cotton shirt at the first belay of North Chimney. One minute it was stuffed in the anchor while I belayed, the next minute it was slipping into the maw of the chimney and fluttering into the depths of Castleton Tower.
Has the summit of Castleton ever seen such titans of rock?I swear the tower let out a big sigh, which pissed me off even more because how was I supposed to interpret that?
The second pitch is a crux chimney. Some puzzling moves, and reasonable amounts of stemming, but well protected and fun.
The rest of the route is a choss highway that tiptoes around and over chockstones. Don't let that keep you away. The route is quality.
The summit register was a howl; less than a month ago some cowboys had dragged a BBQ, coals, burgers and beers to the summit and hosted a massive open invite cookout for all summiting parties. Now that is style.
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